Germany pledges 82 million euros grant to aid critical sectors of Ghana’s economy

Germany has at the end of two-day intergovernmental negotiations with Ghana, committed to providing new and additional grants totaling EUR 82 million to support the critical sectors of Ghana’s economy.

The areas include renewable energy development, financial sector strengthening, education, and skills development (TVET), digital transformation, governance, food security, female empowerment, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises support.

Highlighting the significance of Development Bank Ghana (DBG), Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who led the Ghana side stated:

“The support given us to set up what will be a real game changer in Ghana’s financial architecture, the Development Bank Ghana, is very commendable.”

This was announced in a press release issued by the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday night.

The DBG, the Minister explained, had been positioned to play a countercyclical role in ensuring access to long-term term and affordable capital in challenging economic times, similar to KFW’s role during the post-war reconstruction of Germany.

He gave the assurance that the Bank would adhere to the highest corporate governance principles in order to ensure optimum shareholder value.

The Minister thanked Dr. Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development for the gesture.

He also described the grants “as timely”, given Ghana’s ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

Speaking on behalf of Dr. Bärbel Kofler, Mr. Christoph Rauf, the Director for Africa at BMZ, said Ghana would continue to enjoy a “privilege partner” status with Germany, culminating in the development of a Special Partnership Arrangement.

Germany was also committed to supporting Ghana’s arrangements with the International Monetary Fund.

Ghana is seeking $3 billion in support to stabilize its highly-indebted economy.

The bilateral negotiation, held in Berlin on November 28 to 29, was hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with the support of allied agencies such as the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) and KFW Development Bank.

Ghana’s delegation included Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah, MP and Deputy Minister for Local Government & Rural Development; Mr Andrew Egyapa Mercer, MP and Deputy Minister for Energy; Mrs Gifty Twum Ampofo, MP and Deputy Minister for Education; and Ghana’s Ambassador to Germany, Mrs Gina Ama Blay.

The next inter-governmental negotiations will take place in Accra in June 2023.